In the early hours of most mornings in 2013, Ms Ethel Tan would often be found hard at work in a rental kitchen in Tai Seng.

Between midnight and 4am, the 33-year-old would toil away with her business partner and husband, Mr Shaun Ong, 36, creating custom cakes for her young baking business.

The days weren’t much easier. After deliveries to customers across Singapore, the couple would handle new orders over email and WhatsApp, gather ingredients and prepare for the next night’s baking.

Sleep, says Ms Tan, was a luxury. The law graduate recalls: “There was a bean bag in the waiting area of the building and we used to just sleep on that.”

The gruelling schedule, peppered with moments of self-doubt, marked Edith Patisserie’s first year of operations.

Despite meeting about 100 orders per week, the couple was not making significant profit.

Was it worth it? Yes, says Ms Tan. “One of our main visions was to keep our cakes affordable, and that is what we’ve always focused on.”

Today, Edith Patisserie has its own centralised kitchen in Harper Road, along with three outlets in Singapore – a bakery in Outram Road, a cake bar in Penang Road, and an outlet within the Cold Storage supermarket in Holland Road.

Once a two-man team, Edith Patisserie now has 35 employees – 20 full-time and 15 part-time – to run the bakery’s daily operations, consisting of kitchen and service staff, to delivery drivers.

While unable to provide exact figures, Ms Tan estimates that revenue has increased by roughly 200 per cent since 2013. But despite growth over the years, she shares that the essence of the business remains.

“Things haven’t really changed,” says Ms Tan. “We still do deliveries, and a lot of things ourselves.”

What’s the recipe for her bakery’s success? Heaps of perseverance, a dash of confidence and having the right support along the way.

As the dough rises

Back in 2013, the duo decided to start an online-only bakery to save costs. “Any revenue we had was enough to cover rental (of the kitchen), ingredients, and things like that. We weren’t really earning anything at the time,” says Ms Tan.

When the business gained traction the following year, Ms Tan felt it was necessary to acquire their own production kitchen to meet the growing demand.

Factoring in renovations, and the cost of purchasing additional kitchen equipment, she estimated that an investment of at least a few hundred thousand was required.

But she had little to worry about when it came to securing a business loan. As an existing customer of UOB, Ms Tan decided to approach the bank for a loan.

“It was really fast,” says Ms Tan. “We approached them for an assessment, submitted all the documents required and received in-principle approval.” 

A week later, UOB issued a working capital loan to Edith Patisserie, and disbursed the funds. 

Icing on cake

Once a cost-saving measure, running a business entirely online led to a boost in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as customers turned to online shopping. 

Yet her cakes remained relatively affordable, with prices starting at $36 for a standard cake.

Ms Tan says that Edith Patisserie also started expanding to take “big corporate orders”. It opened its first dine-in outlet in Penang Road in 2021, and started its partnership with Cold Storage last year.

Having a clear view of the business’s financial situation became even more crucial.

“Our accounts were managed externally, and we received monthly and quarterly reports,” shares Ms Tan. “We had to make decisions quickly, and sometimes realised later on that it was too late to pivot.”

Help came in the form of a digital accounting software Xero, which the business adopted in 2021. 

It is one of over 20 external digital solutions offered by UOB BizSmart – a curated suite of solutions across categories such as accounting, human resources and payroll, payments, logistics, e-commerce and digital marketing.

“I can basically do it myself now,” says Ms Tan. “I had a better real-time understanding of the business’s cash flow, and could make better decisions.”

An added benefit: The business now saves tens of thousands per financial year, which would have otherwise been used to engage an accountant.

UOB’s BizSmart digital advisers also provided Ms Tan with complimentary consultations on industry-specific digital solutions that supported the transformation of her business.

Cherry on top

What’s next for Ms Tan? She’s now looking at opening a fourth location in Singapore, along with plans to take her business overseas, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Her confidence is in stark contrast to her younger self. She was once full of self-doubt from giving up a career in law to pursue her dream of running her own bakery, she says. 

The death of her mother during her university years eased some of that doubt: “With any death, you feel like life is very short.”

“It was about me finding what I wanted to do, something that I would be happy with and not to have regrets. I think my mum would be proud of me for doing something that I believe in.”

By women, for women

Besides the financial aspects of running a business, Ms Tan shares that her entrepreneurial journey also included “steep learning curves”.

“There’s a lot of responsibility, to take care of not just the growth of the business, but also managing a team and your staff,” she says.

“That was one of the hardest challenges to growing a business that is sustainable.”

To help other young entrepreneurs, Ms Tan will be sharing her experience on growing her business and overcoming such challenges on March 25 at a “Womenpreneurs Event” (go.uob.com/rsvp-women) at the National Gallery Singapore. It is organised by UOB.

The event is part of a series that aims to bring women entrepreneurs and business leaders together to provide learning, networking and mentorship opportunities. 

“In the highly competitive food and beverage industry, it takes multiple points of differentiation for a business to remain resilient,” says Mr Paul Kan, country head of Business Banking Singapore, UOB.

He adds: “Our industry expertise, coupled with speed of providing financing and non-financing solutions, enabled Edith Patisserie to seize market opportunities quickly with digitalisation as a winning edge.

“As the ‘One Bank for Asean’, we connect businesses to emerging trends and adopt a long-term approach to driving success with our clients, at every stage of growth.”

This is the 10th of a 12-part series in partnership with